FRESH AIR UNDER PRESSURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 22, 20 December 1916, Page 4

FRESH AIR UNDER PRESSURE.

The British Medical Journal ha* * ( ccntly been dealing with the therapeutic possibilit.es oi automobiliun. t

is mainly a question of fresh air under pressure, and has long since been fully realised by cyclists. The mat- 1 ter, however, has been gone into ve: y 1 fully by French savants, who state 1 that motoring is an excellent specific ' in anaemia, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, insomnia, gout, asthma, tuber miosis, and diseases of the kidneys. Jn tlien ' opinion the value of motor driving is based on the stimulus it affords to the pulse, and to tho greater absorption of ozone, due to the rapidity of tbe. \ * ... I motion through the air and the facilities the oar affords of quickly hring-j ing the occupants from one strata, 01 atmosphere to another. The excitement incidental in driving and its effect on the nerve system is also commented on. Of course, this is a factor which can he overdone, but it iscertainly valuable if the driver is reasonable and does not travel at a pace which causes too great a strain on the system. It is also suggested that the diseases which are most baffling ar© mainly the product of listlessuess and: inaction, and that the most valuable and really sane antidote to such ills, at least at their incipient stage, is the hbalthy-giving pursuit of such occupation, irrespective of any momentary stimulus attaching, as leave us little time to count our ills or discuss, much loss brood over, the sins and injuries of our fellows. Neurotic people are seldom physically active; thenon Llook is tlie antithesis to such occupations as would lift their minds outside the groove that is really self-cen-tred. Medical authorities, however, are agreed that high speeds are undesirable iu respect both of those who drive and those who are driven.